1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a panel assembly for an open roof construction for a vehicle having an opening in its fixed roof, said panel assembly comprising a panel of plastic material, a stiffening frame extending along the circumference of the panel assembly and connecting means for connecting said panel and said stiffening frame to each other, said connecting means consisting of an encapsulation formed at least externally around said panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
A panel assembly of this kind is for example known from international patent application WO-A-97/003855. With the panel which is known therefrom, special arrangements have been made to accommodate the relatively great thermal expansion of the plastic material, in particular polycarbonate. A circumferential stiffening frame is provided under the panel, which stiffening frame supports a circumferential seal and which is connected to the panel via pin-slot connections, whereby pins formed on the underside of the panel by moulding are capable of movement in slotted holes in the frame extending in the direction of expansion. In this manner it is possible to accommodate the difference in the degree of expansion between the panel and the stiffening frame via movement of the pins of the panel in the slotted holes of the stiffening frame. The stiffening frame has an coefficient of expansion which at least approximately equals that of the vehicle roof, so that the circumferential seal is hardly influenced, if at all, by the temperature expansion.
A panel assembly according to the introduction is known from EP-A-0 771 684. This panel assembly includes a panel, a frame extending around the panel and an encapsulation between the panel and the frame. The frame has a horizontal portion extending partially below the panel and a vertical part to which the seal is attached. Between the vertical part of the frame and the panel is a weakened flexible portion of the encapsulation to absorb the deformation of the panel.